GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
When do stick height, a distinct kick or a pushed goalkeeper prevent an NHL goal?
These are separate NHL rule tests. Under Rule 80.3, the key high-stick question is where the puck contacts the attacking player’s stick: contact above the crossbar can disallow the goal, while contact at or below it can be allowed. Rule 37.4 disallows a goal from a distinct kicking motion but permits a skate deflection without one. Rule 78.5(ix) identifies a narrower case: the goalkeeper is pushed into the net together with the puck after making a save. That clause does not make every goalkeeper contact a disallowed goal.
For Hockey viewers trying to distinguish a legal deflection from a high-stick or kicked-puck goal. · Updated
For a high-stick goal, the puck’s contact point matters
Rule 80.3 asks whether the attacking player contacted the puck with a stick above the crossbar. The relevant point is where the puck meets the stick, even if it then deflects off another player or an official before entering the net. Contact at or below crossbar height may still produce an allowed goal. The rule also states an own-goal exception: a goal is allowed when a defending player strikes the puck into that player’s own goal with the stick carried above the crossbar.
A distinct kick differs from a skate deflection
Under Rule 37.4, a goal resulting from a distinct kicking motion is ruled no goal. The rule describes that motion as a deliberate kick propelling the puck toward the net. A puck that deflects off an attacking player’s skate without a distinct kicking motion is ruled a goal; a skate-directed puck may also count when no distinct kick is evident. Rule 78.5(ii) lists a distinct-kick goal among the disallowed-goal cases.
The goalkeeper clause describes one specific sequence
Rule 78.5(ix) identifies the goalkeeper being pushed into the net together with the puck after making a save as a disallowed-goal condition. The wording is narrow. It does not say that incidental goalkeeper contact, or every play in which a goalkeeper and puck move toward the goal, automatically makes the goal invalid. The exact facts and any other applicable NHL rules still matter.
Three fictional goal-entry sequences
In one hypothetical path, an attacking player contacts the puck with a stick above the crossbar and it enters the net; Rule 80.3’s high-stick test applies. In a variation, the puck contacts the stick at or below the crossbar before entering, so that contact point does not meet the above-crossbar condition. In a separate path, a distinct kick sends the puck into the net; that is disallowed, while a puck that merely deflects off a skate without a distinct kicking motion is treated differently under Rule 37.4. In a third fictional sequence, after making a save the goalkeeper is pushed into the net together with the puck, matching Rule 78.5(ix)’s stated condition. No real game or video-review result is described.
Related questions
Does any stick held above the crossbar disallow a goal?
No. Rule 80.3 focuses on where the puck contacts the attacking player’s stick. Contact at or below the crossbar may still produce an allowed goal, and a separate exception covers a defending player striking the puck into that player’s own goal with the stick carried high.
Does every puck that touches an attacking skate count as a distinct kick?
No. Rule 37.4 distinguishes a deliberate kicking motion from a skate deflection without one; the latter is ruled a goal under the stated rule.
Does any contact with the goalkeeper make a goal invalid?
No. Rule 78.5(ix) names the specific case of a goalkeeper pushed into the net together with the puck after making a save. It is not a blanket rule for all goalkeeper contact.